


Any Road

by Yve



Category: Rune Factory (Video Games), Rune Factory 4
Genre: Age Difference, Dating, F/M, Fluff, Implied making out, Love Confessions, Marriage, Mild Adult Language, Mild Sexual Content, Romance, hugs and snugs and kisses
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-13
Updated: 2017-01-08
Packaged: 2018-08-30 17:41:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8542660
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yve/pseuds/Yve
Summary: As wanderlust and a sense longing drives Frey to seek the world outside her adopted hometown of Selphia, she prepares to leave on a journey with the hope of finding love. Just before she departs, however, an unexpected meeting with a certain tall dwarf punctures her conviction. Perhaps it wasn't the rest of the world after all that she needed to take a closer look at...





	1. The Unexpected Promise

**Author's Note:**

> I was previously part of a fandom volunteer project to make a fangame in which players could romance the characters in the RF series that were un-romancable in the official games. I was the writer and artist for the Bado romance route. The project eventually lost momentum and was never completed, but having written most of the Bado content already, I still wanted to use that story. So, at the behest of my tumblr followers, here is a fic written using that script as a basis. Enjoy!

 

 

* * *

_"Back then..."_

_"Back then, all I knew was my name... at least, I think it's my name."_

_"Frey... That's who I've been since I landed here with no memory."_

_"I fell in love with this town and everyone in it. Venti, Mr. Volkanon, Vishnal, Clorica, Forte, Doug, Leon, Dylas, Bado... and everyone else who made me feel at home here."_

_"I love Selphia... but...it's the only place I know."_

_"I can't help but wonder what else is out there."_

_"And... I want to find love."_

 

* * *

  
"Rise and shine, Princess." Clorica's soft voice announced, same as always, just before first light. Frey's eyes fluttered opened, but her mind remained blank. A dream, fading into the distance... already a long way away. A wistful feeling like nostalgia played at the edges of her consciousness. Her brow furrowed as she sluggishly tried to recall the life she'd led in that dream.

"Today is the day, isn't it?" The lady butler's sweetly polite speech interjected again, scattering the fleeting thoughts completely this time as Frey's eyes snapped wide open. "That's right!", she thought. It was really here. A nervous, fluttering feeling started up in her stomach, like panic that wasn't here just yet. A moment later excitement superseded it. She all but flung herself upright, eyes glittering as anticipation electrified her from head to toe.

"Today's the day!" She echoed Clorica, half in awe at the realness of the statement. Clorica twitched backward almost in slow motion, surprised at her sudden burst of energy. Everything Clorica did always had a dreamy slowness to it. One or two slow blinks later, she opened her mouth to speak again, her expression still surprised.

"Do you know where you're going to go yet, princess?" She inquired.

"Nope!" Frey declared cheerfully, flinging the bedcovers off herself and jumping to her feet, hands raised in the air as if she'd just stuck an acrobatic landing. "I figured I'd give everywhere a shot! After all, going just one place seems like a waste of a perfectly good adventure!" Clorica laughed softly and moved to help Frey get dressed, her practiced hands efficiently suiting up the odd princess of Selphia in the light armor she wore while adventuring in the local wilderness.

Two hours later, after a huge breakfast consisting mostly of pancakes at Ventuswill's insistence, as well as a very tearful, very LOUD farewell from Mr. Volkanon and Vishnal, Frey walked briskly toward Airship Way with Clorica by her side seeing her to the northern gate. They strode in silence through her fields to the North of the castle that had been her home these past two years. She glanced back at the towering edifice, the symbol of Lady Ventuswill's power, influence, and responsibility over the people of Selphia. And, come to think of it, of her own role in things as well. Being princess had turned out to be more work and duties than it was adulation and pampering, but thanks to her trio of butlers and the kind hearts of the townspeople, it didn't lack for the latter, either.

Upon reaching the gate they slowed and Frey turned back to her butler and friend.

"Everything has been arranged. The monsters will be cared for. Your responsibilities will go back to Arthur, much to his chagrin." Clorica added, giggling. Then her expression faltered. "We're... all going to miss you, Frey..." She said, her voice small and sad. The Princess embraced her friend, her own eyes stinging when she heard the tears in Clorica's words.

"I know... I'm sorry. This is just something I have to do." She whispered through her half-closed throat. How many times had she had this conversation yesterday, when she'd made the rounds around town, bidding all of them farewell, knowing she'd be leaving alone without ceremony early the following morning. She'd seen to all of them personally, despite a predictably over-the-top reaction from Porcoline. After all, didn't she owe them that, by now? Frey's brows furrowed for a moment as she recalled the one person she hadn't been able to find the previous day. "Hey Clorica," She said. The Butler met her eyes expectantly. "Do you think you could say goodbye to Bado for me? I didn't see him yesterday."

"Of course." Clorica replied immediately, smiling. "He was probably slacking off somewhere out of Forte's sight again." She giggled. Frey echoed the little laugh. Yeah... that sounded like him, alright. Still, something inside her twinged a little. Sure, her friendship to the town blacksmith hadn't been the deepest or strongest connection she'd made in the town. Mostly they fenced wits and exchanged teasing remarks at every opportunity. She couldn't say they were terribly close, but she'd still have liked to say goodbye in person.

"Thanks." Frey said, shaking off the moment of regret. "For everything, Clori. I'll miss you, too." They hugged tightly once more and then Frey stepped through the gate to the North, putting on her bravest face once again.

 

* * *

"Jeeze." Frey chuckled to herself, eyeing the bizarre figurehead of the airship as she prepared it to cast off, undoing all but the final mooring lines from the air dock in the northernmost section of town. "I can't believe Porcoline is letting me borrow this whole airship. What a crazy, generous guy."

Heavy footsteps, running at an exhaustive pace, suddenly snapped Frey out of her thoughts. She spun around in instinctive concern and curiosity then blinked in surprise, her mouth falling open a little as a tall, broad shouldered figure stopped in front of her, out of breath and looking as dishevelled as she'd ever seen him.

The big man bent over with his huge square-ish hands resting on his knees as he panted. Frey noted he was missing his work gloves, the bandage-like wraps around his hands to protect them from the impacts of his daily work exposed for once. His dark, always ruffled hair stuck out at odd angles everywhere atop his head. Even his dark beard framing his jawline looked mussed and untidy. He was missing his usual many-pocketed vest and the large belt he normally wore that carried his dwarven hammer at his side. the black undershirt he was prone to wearing under his work gear clung with sweat to the contours of his bulky frame, thick with muscle under all his rough edges and angular features. As he straightened up again, Frey noticed his face and delicately pointed leaf-shaped dwarves' ears were flushed. He looked for all the world like he'd bolted here from across town at a dead sprint without even throwing on a proper outfit.

"Bado!" Frey said awkwardly, not quite recovered from her surprise and his odd appearance. "Did you come to see me off?" Her big green eyes met his blue-gray ones as he looked down at her and his expression flickered through pain, shock, and finally settled into a stern, grudging mask.

"So you really are leaving, then!" He growled angrily. Then his grim expression cracked as hurt came into his voice "What's the big idea, leaving without even sayin' goodbye, huh?" He asked incredulously, still staring her right in the face. She blinked again then winced and tried to smile disarmingly.

"Sorry, Bado. I tried yesterday but I couldn't find you."

The tall dwarven man looked away, folding his arms and glaring down sidelong at the paving stones.

"So that's it, then? I just wasn't ever gonna see you again if I hadn't come runnin' out here just now?" He said quietly, his deep voice sounding insubstantial, for once.

Frey just stared at the man for a moment. What did this all mean, anyway? The imperturbable, contrary, and mischievous blacksmith of Selphia had never shown her even a hint of this kind of mood before now. She had never expected he'd react so strongly to her leaving. Fumbling for some way to diffuse the dour mood of the man, she tried a jibe in their usual style.

"Ah, come on, ya big lug." She chided, setting her hands on her hips and tilting her head at him with a smirk. "You won't miss me that much, will you?" She grinned expectantly at him, waiting for a quip in reply, but his expression collapsed into a cringe before he looked back at her, meeting her eyes once again with a long, fretful face.

"Sure I would..." He countered without a trace of humor in his voice. Frey's grin slid off her face and she felt her eyes widen again and her mouth opened in an 'oh' of surprise. He was being serious! Him!

"R-really?" She heard herself stammer, flabbergasted at the suddenly unguarded air of the man before her. Bado startled at her change in demeanor as if only just realizing he had been speaking out loud.

"Uh..." He blurted, face reddening "Well, yeah! I mean, who am I gonna test my new sales pitches on if you're not around, huh?"

Frey hung her head abruptly, sighing and smiling in spite of herself. "How did I know?" She muttered in mock-disdain. This kind of banter was more like the usual him. It reassured her. "And Forte will just deck you if you try it on her, huh?" She said, looking up at him with a grin. He returned it nervously and chuckled, reaching up to scratch at the back of his head in an unconscious gesture.

"Heh. Yeah, well... She's nowhere near as patient with me as you are, Frey." He admitted with a cheeky smile. Frey beamed at him, reassured at last.

But, that was before his face fell again. Her smile slid away once more as she saw it and she just stared, puzzled and unsure as he sighed and looked away.

They both stood silently, awkwardly. She just waited.

"Look... Frey, I..." He began, then broke off, swallowing and lapsing into silence again. Despite his substantially greater height he looked somehow smaller with his shoulders rounded and his head half-bowed. Then he sighed and began again. "I know you've already made up your mind to go, but..." He raised his head and looked her in the eyes again. The gray-blue of his eyes looked to her like a storm-tossed sea in this moment, a window to a tumult of emotions she'd hardly thought possible in him. "I wish you wouldn't."

Frey stared at the man, suddenly adrift in confusion and hesitation. Something in him looked truly miserable following the simple string of words. He looked like he would rather be doing anything else, like a good portion of him was ashamed to show so much as a single moment of unveiled emotions to her. But he was telling her this anyway... because presumably this was his last chance, she thought.

"Bado..." She began, not knowing what she intended to say next.

Suddenly she was not nearly so sure as she had been a few minutes ago that leaving Selphia was a good idea. Surely she couldn't do anything that would affect someone thus, if she could prevent such obvious disappointment and sorrow by staying. But what on earth would it mean if she stayed just for him, anyway? it wasn't like they were _involved_ or anything. A hot little flush rose in her cheeks as the thought crossed her mind. She was pretty sure she'd never looked at the dwarven blacksmith in that light before...

Involuntarily her eyes combed over the big man from head to toe and she flushed again, abruptly looking away. Now was not the time to be noticing how fit and... _butch_ he was, she thought with a strange squirming sensation in her belly. Embarrassment and frustration crowded into her mind along with all the other strange feelings mingling there. She'd been so certain of her course this morning! Now everything was a jumbled mess. It was all his fault. Abruptly an urge to run shot through her. She mastered the impulse, forcing it down and trying feebly at a smile. She couldn't fake it, so she just let the smile become what it was: a sad, sympathetic thing that bent her mouth upward without any real joy, now.

"Hey, now. Chin up, okay? This isn't really goodbye, Bado." She heard herself say. Was it true? She could hardly say for sure, just now, but the words flowed from her so naturally, she supposed they must be.

"It isn't?" He said, eyes searching hers hopefully. True, she'd very deliberately avoided promising anyone in Selphia, even Ventuswill, that she'd definitely return. It wasn't that she didn't ever want to come back, but she knew better than anyone how one's previous life could vanish. She hadn't wanted to make any promises she didn't know she could keep.

"Of course not, silly! I'll be back." She assured him, smiling now. Where were these words coming from? Frey braced herself to feel guilty for lying. It didn't come. Then with a pang she realized she wasn't lying. She met his eyes, unblinking, and feeling somehow responsible for reassuring him.

"Promise?" He said quietly.

She swallowed.

"Yeah."

Bado let out a big sigh, unfolded his arms and offered a hand to her. She looked at it, calloused and scarred where skin showed outside the wraps; rough from years of labor in his trade as well as his former career as a knight, occasionally alluded to in passing during their prior conversations. She grasped it with her small, slender hand and met his eyes again.

"Until then, I guess." He said reluctantly, holding her gaze. "Take care, Frey."

"You too..." She murmured.

Their hands parted and he silently reached down and untied one of the last two mooring lines, bracing a foot on the cleat and holding the rope taught. Frey swallowed, understanding, and untied the remaining rope by her feet. She hopped on the airship and took hold of the ship's wheel. The big dwarven man shoved hard on the hull of the bow and tossed the mooring rope over the railing onto the deck. He stared up at her and the airship as it floated away, almost like a statue that would be there just the same as now when she did return. Frey shifted her weight uncomfortably, a feeling like a stone in her stomach, as she steered the vessel into the clouds.

 

* * *

_"I left home today, as planned."_

_"But, I was leaving behind more than I realized..."_

_"Including a promise to return."_


	2. Familiar in a Strange Land

"You're going to Love the bathhouse!" Shara all but squealed as she tugged Frey along beside her on their way to the only inn the town of Sharance could boast. But, what Sharance lacked in quantity, it more than made up for in quality when it came to accommodations for travelers. It doubled as an eastern style bathhouse, something familiar to Frey thanks to the Bell hotel and bathhouse back in Selphia. Frey laughed as they approached the entrance over a quaint little footbridge built upon a stream surrounding the structure, half exasperated at her new friend's enthusiasm in showing her around town.

She'd arrived early in the morning and been immediately attracted to the sight of an enormous flowering tree, known as the Sharance Tree, she later found out. A slight, golden haired man with blue eyes had appeared from within the tree, apparently a dwelling in and of itself, introduced himself as Micah, and Shara as his wife. Upon finding out about Frey's talents as an earthmate as well as her lost memory, they'd immediately found plenty of common ground between them and hit it off right away. From there, Shara was only too happy to take Frey around Sharance to make sure she saw the best of the little town during her visit.

So far she'd shown Frey the grocery, her own flower shop, the extensive farm around the base of the Sharance tree, and now this inn.

"Welcome." A smooth, refined female voice announced as they passed inside. Frey found herself staring in appreciation. The beauty of the woman matched her voice to a tee, with long straight hair like shining black silk, and pale skin, flawless as new snow. "My name is Shino. How may I help you?" She asked serenely.

"Hi," Frey began. "I've just arrived in town. I'm looking for a place to stay." She extended her hand and the woman looked at it for a half a beat before smoothly accepting it with her own.

"We have plenty of rooms available, miss Frey." She said, making a note in a little book she carried and producing a key apparently from within the sleeve of her Kimono. "Use of the bath is included with the room fee. Please let us know if you need anything." She handed the key to Frey along with a little card detailing the pricing for the room and bowed her head courteously to her.

"Thank you very much." Frey replied, smiling.

"Mom!" A woman's voice called out, accompanied by small, tinkling bells marking the jogging footsteps approaching. A girl who might have been a younger Shino by the look of her appeared, slightly out of breath, and glared with a pout up at her mother. "You said I could greet the next customer!"

"Which you could have, if you'd been here to do so, Sakuya." Shino replied with a graceful smile at her daughter, the chastisement delivered with patience and poise, but there was something sharper in her eyes. Frey began to suspect that Shino was a more strict mother and boss than she was willing to display for a stranger.

"I was just appraising the new Ammonite shells Micah brought me." Sakuya explained, excitedly tallying unknown numbers on a miniature abacus she was carrying. "I think they're going to sell real high!" A gleam of excitement and mischief touched her garnet colored eyes and Frey felt a laugh bubble up in her throat. It burst out of her as an undeniably merry sound, utterly disrupting the slight mother-daughter argument that was underway in front of her. Sakuya and Shino stopped and stared at her blankely.

"I'm s-sorry." Frey said amidst the laughter, unable to stop herself right away. "You just reminded me of someone I know and it really surprised me." She bowed hastily to them both, thanked Shara, promising to see her the next day, then hurried upstairs to her room, still valiantly wrestling down the corners of her mouth to stop them from smirking. She found her room open, ducked inside, then slid the rice paper door shut in a hurry. She flopped down on the tatami mat and seized the pillow off of the folded futon bedding, burying her face in the thing to suppress the remaining giggles.

It wasn't that funny, really. But, it had taken her by surprise and her instant need to snuff out her inexplicable hilarity only multiplied the effect of the laughter until here she was, smothering a fit of giggles on the floor of her room like an overexcited teenager.

It died down after a minute or two, finally. She sighed in relief and felt herself smiling softly into the pillow. What would Bado have done if he'd ever met Sakuya? Frey couldn't help but imagine the shenanigans they'd get up to together via a mutual obsession with earning money in the cleverest way they could find. Something about the happily excited gleam full of mischief she'd seen in the girl downstairs reminded her so strongly of that man back in Selphia.

Frey's smile faded. The image of his long face, lined at the corners of his eyes and around his mouth, came back to her. The way he'd looked up from the skyport while she drifted away via airship six weeks ago haunted her still. Was he still miserably wishing she hadn't left? Surely not, she assured herself. Why on Earth would he still be bothered about it?

"Maybe because you are..." She whispered to herself on reflex.

Sure, she'd been troubled about his forlorn behavior for the first few days of her journey, but by the time she'd finished touring Kardia, she'd thought she'd succeeded in putting it out of her mind. This was surely just a coincidence, given that Sakuya had reminded her of him.

Yes, just a coincidence...

Frey set about putting her room in order, went next door to the restaurant for a rather delicious dinner, came back to the inn, bathed, and went to bed feeling much more at ease. The odd mermaid girl, Pia, had been a delightful companion while she'd been downstairs at the bath. The woman was likely crazy by any ordinary person's standard, but that hadn't stopped her from being almost magnetically amiable. Frey had laughed almost all through her conversation with her. Now she sighed happily as she set her head down on the pillow, snuggled into the Futon, cozy as a pile of woollies. Shara had even promised to take her around town the following day to see all the different business and meet the residents. That would keep her mind on her adventure where it should be. Plus, who knew? Maybe she'd meet a handsome stranger along the way?

Frey smiled again as she dozed off, feeling hopeful. She'd managed to completely quash the little knot of feeling and memory squirming somewhere in her belly since earlier that day. Or at least... very nearly completely.

  
* * *

  
The following day proved extremely interesting as Shara introduced Frey to various residents of Shara. The town could boast a wide variety of oddities in the form of its citizenry, including a father and daughter of the De Sainte Coquille family who spoke entirely in opposites, with a third member of their family who spent all her time making 'fashion forward' clothing mostly out of perishables. There was also a honest-to-goodness witch and her apprentice living and practicing the arcane healing arts out of their own shop. The apprentice, one Marian by name, was unfortunately quite mad by any reasonable standard. That hadn't stopped Frey from liking the girl immediately, but she was also warned not to accept anything to eat or drink from Marian and advised to run or dodge if she aimed the strange syringe apparatus she always carried with her.

"Oh, and you're interested in crafting and forging, right Frey?" Shara was saying, after they'd left the apothecary. Frey nodded, smiling at her energetic new friend. "Oh, then you really must visit the blacksmith's shop while you're here. He's a dwarf, you know. And, his assistant is half-monster, just like Micah!" Shara rambled on exuberantly, but Frey hadn't heard any of it after 'He's a dwarf, you know.'

'Damn...' She thought, frustrated. Not even her best efforts could withstand such a direct parallel to the very person she was trying to put out of her mind. She pressed her lips together and sighed quietly through her nose as they entered the shop.

"Welcome..." A flat voice greeted them as they came through the door. A woman with long, fiery red hair was arranging some armor on a rack by the shop's little counter. She'd turned her blue eyes to them for a moment, given her perfunctory greeting, then resumed her task, all but aloof to her customers. It put Frey off enough for her to stop in her tracks halfway through the shop, staring baffled at the woman for her lack of professional courtesy.

"Hi, Raven!" Shara called, utterly unfazed. She trotted over to the red-haired woman and began chattering excitedly at her. Raven, for her part, stared expressionlessly at Shara and gave laconic answers to her various comments and questions. Frey felt herself making a confused face and shaking her head in bewilderment.

"Don't be fooled." A clear, kindly male voice assured from her right, where a separate room housed the actual workshop of the town's blacksmith, "They're actually very good friends." Frey turned to look at the speaker, smiling.

"Ah that's a relie-" She choked on the words and swayed on her feet as her eyes widened in surprise.

There before her stood a man only a little taller than herself with a dwarven hammer in his gloved hands. His hair was a dark, sooty shade she knew all too well, and the gently pointed ears protruding from beneath his untidy coiffure as well as the furred collar of his work gear conspired in their turn to stab at her with their familiarity. But, it was the color of his one open, unscarred eye that had really shaken her. The blue-gray of storm clouds over the ocean...

Frey stared directly into the man's one eye, transfixed by the identical coloration and other similarities to her adopted hometown's own dwarven blacksmith. The dwarf before her smiled mildly at her, unperturbed by her shocked expression and she winced as she remembered the lined face of the tall dwarf, drawn with misery as she sailed away from him. Frey's face flushed and her eyes burned. She looked aside hurriedly, babbling an apology.

"I-I'm sorry..." She said, avoiding looking directly at the man. "You surprised me is all. I'm Frey." She said, mastering herself as best she could and offering him her hand, never quite making eye contact as she did. The dwarven man accepted her hand and shook it warmly.

"Well, Frey. It's nice to meet you, assuming this is the first time we've met?" He added with a hint of whimsy in his voice. "My name is Gaius. I'm the blacksmith here."

"It's nice to meet you, Gaius." Frey mumbled hurriedly, folding her arms around her midriff and forcing a smile for him. Gaius stared at her with that one Blue-Gray eye, the other permanently shut and marred with a long blueish scar over it. His eyebrows climbed up into his mop of dark hair, and his mouth opened in a little 'ah' of understanding.

"Hey Raven," Gaius called, turning away from Frey suddenly. "Do you think you could run over to Blaise's restaurant and pick up some lunch for me? I'm starving.", he added in perfectly calm tones that described no such urgency.

Raven blinked at Gaius once or twice, then nodded and headed directly for the door without a word. Shara watched Raven go, then cast a glance to Frey, then Gaius, and back again.

"Oh!" She said suddenly. "That reminds me! I need to run home and check on something I'm preparing for dinner for Micah tonight! Frey, I'm so sorry, but could we meet up a bit laer?"

"Oh, Uh, Sure..." Frey said reflexively.

"Thanks!" Shara chirped and just like that she, too, had vanished through the front door of the shop. Frey just stared after her friend's abrupt departure, blinking stupidly for a beat or two.

"I get the feeling, miss Frey..." Gaius said gently. She turned to him as he spoke, "That I remind you of something."

She swallowed, glancing at his eye and away again.

"Something you maybe don't want to be thinking about?"

"Um..." Frey said reflexively, kicking herself internally as she heard herself. It was as good as admitting it, after all. Gaius' gentle, knowing smile widened. It was like he could see right through her with that one eye.

"Where did you say you're from, Frey?"

"I didn't..." She mumbled, "But, uh, it's Selphia." She rubbed at her arm self consciously enduring his blue-gray gaze and registering a sureity in his manner as he nodded in reply.

"Ah," he said gently, then pulled out a chair at his work table and gestured for her to sit.

Frey couldn't have said precisely why, but she immediately moved to sit as he had indicated. Perhaps it was curiosity; Perhaps she was unravelling.

"So," Gaius said casually, sitting down across from her at the table and leaning on an elbow. "How is he?"

She blinked rapidly at him, saying nothing.

"I imagine the resemblance is a trifle hard to miss, what with how few of us there are in this region." He said mildly.

"You know Bado?" Frey said finally. After all, there didn't seem any point in denying what Gaius plainly had read in her reaction to seeing him.

"Yep." The smiling dwarf replied cheerfully. "My cousin."

"Cousin?" Frey echoed, eyes wide.

"Yep." He said again. "Same clan, hence the similar lack of fashion sense." He grinned, tugging on the furred collar of his jacket.

"He's never mentioned you..." She said without thinking, then blushed in embarrassment. "I mean-uh-sorry..."

"It's no surprise." Gaius replied easily, waving her off. "He's terrible about writing to me, too. But, we're not really estranged or anything either. We grew up together when we were kids."

"Really?" Frey found herself asking. It wasn't really any business of hers, but a sudden ravenous curiosity seemed to have taken control of her tongue. Gaius nodded.

"He lived with me and my parents as a kid. For all practical purposes, we're a bit more like brothers than cousins." Frey just stared at the man, vaguely wondering if the eager interest she felt about the information he was giving her was too plain upon her face. Gaius' smile widened as he watched her. Then he tilted his head slightly and threw her a curve ball.

"So... Just why is it that you didn't want to be reminded of him, if you're so interested in his history?" He asked, too mildly. Frey blushed and fidgeted. Damn. Too obvious as always. Why was she so bad at keeping a lid on her reactions?

"I, well... it's not that I-" She fumbled.

"You don't get along?" Gaius offered.

"We do... but..." She trailed off, looking down at the wood grain of the table, trying to think of what to say and how to phrase it. The dwarf sitting across from her remained patiently silent. She frowned at the table's surface, biting her lip for perhaps a minute, then raised her eyes to his one. "I left." she said slowly, feeling the concern showing on her face.

Gaius made a little 'ah' shape with his mouth, nodding with understanding.

"And I take it he wasn't fond of the notion?" He guessed gently. She shook her head, confirming.

"He doesn't handle rejection all that well." He sighed.

"I-It isn't like that!" She squeaked in instant protest, turning pink. Gaius raised both eyebrows slowly and merely stared at her for a beat or two. "There's nothing romantic between us at all." She insisted, shaking her head.

"You sure?" He challenged after a significant look. "I never said anything about romance, after all..." A smirk appeared on his lips. Frey felt her face grow even hotter, pointedly refusing to guess at what shade of red she was turning at the moment. She looked away and bit her tongue.

"So, why did you leave, Frey?" he asked gently, adding: "You don't seem terribly happy with the decision, if you don't mind my saying."

"I have been," She countered quietly, "Until I'm reminded of him, the look on his face when I left..."

Silence stretched for a few long moments between them as she wandered on her train of thought, eyebrows knitted together.

"I have no past, no home. I left Selphia to look for it."

Another pause.

"You know..." Gaius said, a smirk highly audible in his words. "Home isn't really a place." Frey looked up at him skeptically.

"Then what is it?"

"Well, let me put it this way," He replied, "Any road that leads to one you love leads home."

"I never said I loved him!" She protested hotly. Gaius' smile showed teeth now as it widened in amusement.

"No... no you didn't." He agreed.

"I don't." She insisted, glaring.

"Of course." He said, graciously tipping his head to her. She narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously until he spoke again, grinning a fox-like grin. "But... you do feel something for him. Otherwise," He shrugged, "we wouldn't be having this conversation."

"You're the one who brought it up." She grumbled.

"In response to your reaction when you first saw me. It's only natural for a man to wonder why a woman looks at him like she's seeing a ghost."

Frey gave a little 'Hmph' and folded her arms with a pout. Gaius chuckled and stood up, walking away for a minute or two and returning with two steaming cups of tea. He put one in front of Frey and held the other up to his lips, sipping carefully at the hot drink. Frey eyed him out of the corner of her eye suspiciously.

"You're going to tell me to go back?"

He shook his head.

"Nah. It's not up to me to decide what you ought to do. I was merely curious. It's quite a coincidence that you walked into my workshop with him on your mind."

"You _don't_ think I should go back?" She challenged. Gaius sighed.

"I think you should do what will let you rest easy, Frey. And, try not to bury your feelings. Odds are they're there for a reason."

"This is a hell of a first conversation to have with a guy..." Frey grumbled. Gaius smiled.

"Can't argue with that."

Frey sighed audibly, drooping a bit.

"I have to go back..."

"Do you?"

"I promised him I would." She admitted. Gaius' eyebrows went up and he hurried to hide a very sharp smirk behind his cup. Frey scowled.

"Oh, shut up."

His mouth tightened as he held a laugh down and shook his head.

"I didn't say anything."

"You were thinking it." She accused. He shrugged with a guilty, self-satisfied air.  
She sighed again, and picked up the cup in front of her with a resigned air. They sat in silence for a long while as she drank the hot liquid down, thinking hard and staring down into the drink as if she expected council from it. Gradually, her fretful expression loosened and she relaxed, stroking a finger around the rim of the cup absentmindedly. Finally, tea long since finished, she slumped back against the chair and sighed, looking up into Gaius' face once more.

"Feel better?" He inquired mildly. She nodded.

"Yeah."

"Good." He replied, "Can I ask a favor of you, Frey?" She blinked in surprise, then nodded.

"Sure."

"Tell him to get off his lazy butt and write to me, will you?"

She gave a tiny huff of laughter, accompanied by a reluctant half-smile.

"Yeah, alright."


	3. Return to Uncertainty

The voyage back to Selphia was not a terribly long one, but it still gave Frey plenty of time to grow more and more nervous. There she stood, posture proud and confident at the helm of the ship: one woman sailing alone in the sky and perfectly comfortable doing so. Her independent nature and competence as a airship pilot unfortunately did nothing to prevent the multiplying of butterflies in her stomach; neither did it prevent her limbs from feeling light, numb, and insubstantial the more she considered why she was returning and who was waiting there for her.

No matter how many times she chastised herself internally she could not help but imagine how their reunion might go at least a dozen times an hour. Her mind furiously considered the possibilities: what he would say, how she would reply, what he might say after that. What ought she wear when next she went to him? What would it be like to... to _date_ the big dwarven blacksmith? She felt her face heat up and her mouth tighten as she thought about it. She'd always kind of liked the man but she hadn't been in the habit of appraising him as a potential boyfriend before. But, if her quickening pulse as she thought about him in that context was anything to measure it by, she certainly considered him attractive enough...

Reflexively, she pictured his big broad shoulders and heavily muscled frame, not the whipcord lean muscle of Dylas, nor the sculpted, statuesque physique of Leon. No, Bado was a different animal entirely: broad, heavy, powerful. Every individual part of him was at least twice as big or thick or both than that of any of the other, younger men in Selphia. The only one that could boast broader dimensions was Volkannon... and perhaps Porcoline, she thought with a smirk, but only around the middle of him.

Then she thought of his big, scarred, square-ish hands. the short beard framing his jawline, his deep resonant basso voice. They'd be a study in contrasts: Her small, lean stature and feminine curves next to all his bulk and masculine angles. There was something terribly appealing about that difference, she thought, her eyes blinking slowly with a pleased attitude as she imagined it. And then there was his height! How on earth was she going to _kiss_ him without standing on a chair or something?

Frey swallowed thickly, a fresh wave of nervous excitement jolting through her. Her palms began to sweat as she gripped the ship's wheel rather more tightly than was necessary.

First things first, she thought. Before any of _that_ kind of thing, they'd have to actually become a couple. He had come running on that morning, nearly two months prior, running so that he might see her one last time. She already knew how he felt: that look on his face, the things he'd said when it seemed those were his last moments with her. It would happen, she assured herself. Of course it would.

Frey thrust out her chin at the clouds breaking over the ship's prow, fully certain of her path now that she'd chosen it. Sure, she hadn't found love in a faraway land as she'd originally hoped, but it was thanks to her journey that she knew where to look for it, now. So, she thought, it had been the right course regardless.

'Not long now...' she thought. her heart pattering faster in her chest.

  
* * *

"Well! Look who's back already!" Ventuswill boomed smugly from high above as she loomed over Frey in the great dragon hall. "We haven't even converted your rooms into storage yet...", She mused with a teasing air. Frey rolled her eyes and strode right past Selphia's resident god.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, featherbutt!" She teased back, smirking over her shoulder.

"Hey, where are you running off to, so suddenly anyway? You've barely just arrived!" The dragon rumbled irritably. Frey spun around and shrugged, still walking backwards so as not to pause her momentum. If she let Venti start in on her now, she'd be stuck there for another quarter of an hour at least. She had places to be and a particular person to see...

"Sorry, Venti. I've got an errand to run. I'll be back in a bit then you can catch me up on everything I've missed while I was away."

"Hmph!" The dragon snorted. "Impertinent as always!" But, her big black eyes glittered with amusement nevertheless.

Outside, Frey strode along the paving stones of Selphia's wide roads absentmindedly straightening her skirt or pawing over her long, twin pigtails of glossy, pale green hair. Her butterflies hadn't abated in the slightest, but she was, she thought, getting a little more used to the sensation.

In another few minutes she stood before a big oak door with cast iron hinges and handle. The returned princes of Selphia hesitated, then took a deep breath and strode right into the town's smithy.

The cluttered shop bore upon its shelves and walls the same eclectic range of goods that it ever had, bearing more resemblance to a curiosity shop than a smithy. Frey did not pause to glance at any of the wares, striding instead straight back to the work area to look for the huge silhouette of the blacksmith against the fiery glow of the forge in the back.

He was not there.

Frey stopped mid-stride, her weight resting on one foot while the other's toe perched on the stone floor of the workroom. She chewed her lip for a beat, then spun on her heel and walked back out to the shop's till and counter. Her eyes scanned the room hastily but no broad shoulders or blue eyes rewarded her search. She fretted at her lip again, folding her arms and staring sightlessly in the direction of the front door, wondering where she might look for him next. She sighed loudly; her right foot tapped nervously upon the wooden floor of the shop's front room in quick succession.

"Hold yer horses, I'm comin'." A deep voice grumbled from behind a curtained doorway in the back of the shop on the opposite side as the workroom. Frey's heart leapt into her throat like a startled cat. Her head whipped around and she found her gaze locked with a pair of blue-gray eyes so wide with shock they made her own into mirrors of that startled expression.

Bado stood frozen in the doorway to his small living quarters behind the storefront, one big hand still half-outstretched to brush aside the curtain. His lips were parted, jaw half-slack, and all the color had drained from his face. He just stared at her, the moment frozen for three rapid heartbeats, pounding so hard they hammered her ribs from inside her chest. Then, a reflexive smile flashed for a beat across his mouth, creasing the smile lines around the corners. He grinned broadly in a flash of teeth, color returning to his features, his pointed ears even going so far as to turn pink. Frey felt a clenching sort of spasm in her chest that caught her breath in her throat. Was this what it meant for a heart to skip a beat? That rough-hewn face of his shed its typical weary air and bloomed with blatant, boyish glee as she'd never seen it before.

But, it was only a moment: only a brief flash of elation that vanished behind the controlled visage of a man old enough to know how to temper his reactions. As he abruptly schooled his expression into a lazy sort of smirk and hid away that bright, joyful smile, Bado shifted his weight and folded his arms in an attitude of mischief and mockery she knew all too well. Those stormy ocean eyes still glittered brightly with emotion behind the mask of control, however. Frey leaned forward when she saw it.

"Well well well!" He declared loudly, "Look what the palm cat dragged in! Our wanderlust-afflicted princess!"

"Good morning, Bado." She said evenly, eyes still fixed on his. He drew in a deep breath and sighed it out, shoulders dropping briefly as he did so, as if letting down a burden he'd carried many miles already this day.

"It's good to see ya, Frey. This town ain't half as interesting when you're not in it, ya know." He said, warmth in his deep voice. She raked a quick glance over him and noted his unkempt image, almost identical to that morning she'd sailed away, but for a pair of darker than usual circles under his wearied-looking eyes.

"Tch." She clucked on reflex, heart fluttering, "Shameless flatterer." It felt so natural to fall into that snipping banter they'd shared so many times before. This time, though, he smiled softly, dropping any edge to his voice as he countered:

"Hey, I ain't blowin' smoke. I mean it. I might'a neglected to mention that before, but what with you takin' up a notion to move on an leave this town behind lately, I see that was a bad oversight on my part. I'm sorry for that, Frey."

She swallowed, mouth suddenly dry. Just as before, hearing him throw out his teasing tone and speak sincerely threw her off balance. What was she supposed to say to that? Just admit what had been on her mind ever since she'd walked into Gaius' shop in Sharance? Fear jolted down her backbone as she thought about it and she heard her mouth deflect the sentimental mood hanging in the air.

"Y-you're just a big softy, eh? I had no idea you could be so sappy." Her voice, only barely shaking, countered. The big man chuckled in a satisfied way.

"And you're always so relentless, Frey." He replied, shaking his head.

' _No! What is wrong with me!_ ' Frey hissed at herself in her mind. How would they ever get to the point of confessing love if she couldn't even handle exchanging a sincere greeting with the man?

"That was sweet of you to say, though..." She hurriedly added, half out of breath. Bado swallowed and blinked at her, slightly taken aback. She took advantage of his confusion and pushed a little further. "Selphia wouldn't be the same without you either, ya big goof." She felt her face heating up. "So, don't go changing, okay?"

The big man flushed, face and ears turning crimson briefly. He cleared his throat.

"I, uh... I'll give it my all, Frey." He said, voice rough. His eyes glanced at hers and away again. Then he seemed to shake off the temporary shyness and strode into the shop and over to a display full of small wares, adopting a much more casual air as he began arranging them. "So, what brings you to my humble shop this fair mornin', eh? Come to buy all my sale items?" He raised his dark eyebrows hopefully. She snorted.

"In your dreams, maybe." She countered dryly. He chuckled.

'Focus!' She chastised herself.

"Actually, I came to see you." She said casually. Did it sound forced? It sounded forced. Damnit. Bado frowned in suspicion.

"Yeah?" He intoned with skepticism, "What for?"

"I don't need a reason to come say hello to you." She replied, half flippant, half defensive.

_'Shit. What is the matter with me?'_

She attempted damage control with a smirk to accompany her next words:

"I'm the princess, remember? I could simply order you to come to me, if you'd prefer."

He smiled.

"Yikes. All that power is going to your head, Frey. Better watch out or someone will have to overthrow you."

She stuck out her tongue at him petulantly, making a show of trying to suppress a smile as she did so. He chuckled warmly and crossed the room, gesturing for her to follow as he headed for his table in the work room.

"Well, as ong as you're here, why not sit for a spell? Can I get'cha somethin' to drink? Tea? Juice?" Frey padded after him, a wild streak of mischief suddenly taking hold of her.

"Got anything stronger?" She asked brightly. He cast a surprised look back at her then snorted as he spotted her wicked smirk.

"Ha ha. Very funny, princess. But I ain't gonna get caught drinkin' with you before noon." He cast a woeful glance at the ceiling. "Can you imagine all the yelling I'd get from Forte? No, no no. It's way too early for that. Pick somethin' reasonable: somethin' that's not gonna get me pummelled."

"Fine. Juice then." She replied imperiously. He gave her a half-smile and paced back out of the room, presumably to the icebox, muttering as he went:

"Should have known you'd want something sweet."

Now alone in the corner of the shop that overlapped with the workroom, Frey occupied herself inspecting the odds and ends her crush was peddling these days.

 _'This place is as eclectic as ever...'_ , she thought, walking forward to a shelf that turned out to be a hand-forged shield propped on the edges of a few stacks of books and boxes. A row of little pink ornaments assembled out of fabric and ribbon were lined up in the center of it with a folded paper card proclaiming 'Love charms! 450g apiece.' She snorted, picking up one of the little trinkets and turning it over in her hand. _'Sheesh. What kind of blacksmith's shop sells love charms, anyway?'_ She thought, shaking her head with an inward smile.

"Here ya go." Bado's voice interjected as he offered a cup of orange juice from one of his big, angular hands.

"Oh, thank you." She murmured, hurrying to accept the cup and accidentally bringing the charm with her in her haste.

"What'cha got there?" he asked in mild curiosity, peering at the bit of ribbon protruding from her closed right hand.

"Oh, I just picked it up absentmindedly just now." She said hurriedly, shifting her hand behind her cup. He grinned.

"Come on, now, Princess. I can see from here it's a love charm." He leaned back in his chair and regarded her somewhat smugly. Was it just her imagination or was there tension behind the attitude? "So, you've got your heart set on some young buck around town after all, huh? Didn't think you were susceptible to spring fever, given you'd been livin' here better'n'a year and no boyfriend yet." Frey felt her eyebrows lift. She raised the stoneware cup to her lips and sipped at the tangy juice, glancing sidelong at him.

"Been speculating on that, have you?" She countered in careful tones, precisely measured to carry all manner of implication. He blinked and looked away, shifting in his seat.

"Nah, not really. I mean, you've come in here from time to time with Leon or Doug and I might'a wondered for a moment, but, uh..." He trailed off.

"Well," She interjected, forcing calm confidence into her voice. She tried to make her words sound offhand, as if she didn't particularly care if he knew this stuff or not. "There is someone I've been thinking about a lot lately, in fact." He paused, blinked at her, then mimicked her tactic of sipping at his own cup. His 'casual' tone was no more convincing to her than was her own.

"Yeah? Well, like I said... I figured as much... what with the charm and all."

"But it's not who you think it is." She continued as if he hadn't spoken. He bent an eyebrow at her.

"Oh yeah? What makes you so sure?"

"Just a hunch." She shrugged, smirking. He scoffed and looked away, a smile playing about the corners of his eyes.

"Fine. Keep your secrets."

"A girl's gotta have a few secrets." She countered primly.

"Heh. I suppose so." He muttered, giving in to a slight flicker of a smile on one corner of his mouth. Then, looking thoughtful, he continued: "Yeah, that's about right, actually. You're still so young, Frey. You should have plenty of dreams."

She stared at him, pursing her lips and knitting her eyebrows together.

"What's that about? You're talking like you're some old fogey." She challenged, genuinely confused. Yes, the big man was a good ten years older than her, maybe more, but by no means was he _old._ Besides, she was a grown woman, damnit! She wouldn't let something stupid like a number get in the way of her hopes.

"So? What's so weird about that?" He countered without any rancor.

"Well, you're not." She countered, pointing an accusing finger at him.

He raised both eyebrows. "How'd'ya figure that?"

"Well, you're still plenty fit and strong, and you haven't got a single gray hair." She explained gesturing to the whole of him with only a little blush in her cheeks. "You can't be any older than thirty-somethin', right?"

Bado blinked at her, then huffed a monosyllabic laugh.

"Good guess. Thirty six, in fact." he confirmed. "Still way too old for someone your age, though, so next to you I'm an old dog." He said almost absently, as if it were a thought he'd run through so many times it was practically unconscious, now.

Frey let silence stand just long enough that he glanced up at her eyes and away again. Then she took a breath, and a risk:

"Shouldn't that be for someone my age to decide?" She asked evenly.

"Wha-" He breathed, confusion on his features. A sudden, new fear occurred to Frey and stole away her confidence in that moment.

"Unless... you wouldn't _want_ to be with someone my age..." She murmured, tension in her posture as it was her turn to glance nervously at him as she spoke. She let her anxiety and potential disappointment show through a little, perhaps hoping it might inspire the answer she hoped for. If that answer wasn't his, though, no amount of body language could change that, and she knew it.

"W-well, I--" He faltered, as if in a hurry to reply only to choke on his response. He aborted the sentence with a shake of his head and tried anew: "There ain't nothin' wrong with your age, little lady. It's gettin' older that sucks. Sorry if I gave you the wrong impression." He added, self-consciously scratching at one corner of his bearded jawline. Then he forced a smile in her direction. "You ain't got nothin' to worry about. Enjoy it while you can, okay?"

Frey frowned at him, shaking her head. She raised her voice and spoke firmly, as if he'd gone a bit deaf: "You're _not_ _old_ , Bado." She said flatly. He chuckled, a little bitterly. She hadn't gotten through to him. A little sinking feeling pulled at her chest even before he replied:

"If you say so, Frey."

She stared at him, saying nothing. He sipped at his cup again, looked at her once or twice, and generally squirmed subtly in the silence.

"Well, as much as I hate to admit it, I'd better get to work for the day or Forte'll skin me for sure." He sighed after a little while. Frey's heart dropped further. No... it seemed today would not be the day anyone confessed love. He gestured to her still-closed fist. "You can keep the love charm, though. On the house... for sayin' nice things to me about my age." He winked at her with a mildly weary little smile. "And good luck with your love affair, by the way. I hope it works out."

Frey felt her eyebrows tent above a little lost expression on her features.

"I... hope so too..." She murmured. He nodded, looking down.

"Well, see ya later, I guess..." He said quietly, resignation in his voice. Frey stared right at him still.

"Yeah... Can I come visit again soon?" She heard her mouth ask without checking in with her brain first. Bado turned and looked straight at her once more, confusion and a little of the surprised delight she'd hungrily observed when he'd first laid eyes on her that morning showing in his blue-gray eyes. He swallowed, then tilted his head and gave a little quizzical half-smile.

"What's with you all of a sudden? You don't need a reason, remember?"

"Oh!" She chirped involuntarily as she jolted upright, a hopeful surge making her stomach leap upward again. "Yeah, that's right." She laughed.

She stood up, nodded to him, and turned to go.

"Soon, then." She said, waving.

"Sounds good, missy." He replied, still sporting that half-smile.

She left the way she'd come, a confused bundle of giddy numbness and nervous jitters.

"What??" She whispered to herself as the door to the shop clicked shut behind her. She shook her head, befuddled. Had that gone horribly awry, or promisingly well? Both, perhaps? She sighed out a rapid breath and looked up at the sky. Everything had seemed so certain when she'd been sailing back through those clouds. Was she any closer to the man she'd cut her adventure short to return to?

Trying to work her way into a love affair was far more confusing than anticipated, she thought with another little sigh. But, he had seemed interested by her desire to see him again. All there was left to do was to see him again. How long should she wait? At least a couple days... gods she could already tell that was going to feel like _forever_.

 


	4. Libations and Love Advice

Frey lasted exactly two and a half days before she gave into the temptation to call on her crush again. Sure, she still had no assurances of his feelings and she was being driven slowly crazy by that uncertainty, but today she had a plan...

Just as soon as she finished her daily chores and stabled her flock of woolies before the fickle weather could rain on them, the princess of Selphia went trotting down the wide paving stones toward the town's smithy.

The damned butterflies started up in her stomach just as soon as she got within sight of the place. She determinedly pushed down the feeling as much as possible and leaned back as she tugged on the heavy iron handle of the door to the 'Meanderer'.

"Afternoon." Called a familiar deep voice as she stepped inside. Bado's tone was offhand and neutral. He hadn't looked up from a pad of paper he was scratching things down on. Frey couldn't read his garbled handwriting upside down in any case, but she could see he was making a list of some kind, some items circled or underlined while others were crossed out.

"Hard at work I see?" She teased from no more than two feet away from him in front of the shop's counter. His head snapped up and he smiled at her in pure pleased reaction to her presence.

"Well now!" He intoned approvingly, setting the pencil down on the forgotten notepad at last. "I'll be gettin' spoiled if you keep visiting me so often, princess." One corner of his mouth tugged up in a smirk at her, his head tilted slightly to one side in a playful manner. She grinned at him. "Not that I'm complaining, of course." He added

"Of course not." She replied, lifting an eyebrow. Feeling emboldened, she leaned forward against the counter as she spoke to him. "How are you today?"

"Can't complain." He replied offhand with a mild shrug. "Getting close to quittin' time so that's always a plus."

Frey made an exaggerated show of tapping her chin as she looked up at the ceiling, apparently thinking hard.

"Does it count as closing up shop though, since you always leave the counter open for business?" She gestured at the everpresent sign on the shop's counter inviting patrons to leave payments for their purchases on the counter and tursting to the 'honor system' to ensure they didn't walk out with the goods without paying. Bado just shrugged again.

"Maybe not, but the important bit is I won't be forging or otherwise workin' during off hours. And that's good enough for me." He added, smiling again.

Frey bent a suspicious eyebrow at him.

"Did you actually get some work done today, to make you so ready to close up shop?"

He made a show of looking wounded at her words.

"Hey now, have a little faith in me at least, princess!" He complained, "I may not work very hard on any given day, but I always get something done, ya know." He picked up the pencil and tapped meaningfully on the notepad, eyeing her. "I even came up with a swell new idea to make some easy gold. Wanna hear?"

"I... think I'll pass." Frey replied, leaning away fromt he notepad as if it smelled rotten. "I'd rather maintain plausible deniability, after all, in case Forte questions me."

"Don't wanna be partners in crime, eh, Frey?" the big man chuckled. "Well I can't say I blame ya. That girl is terrifying and no mistake. No restraint, I tell ya." He shook his head as he mentioned his foster daughter.

Frey leaned toward him again, tilting her head curiously.

"How long until closing, anyway?"

"Oh, about twenty minutes or so..." Bado replied, tugging at his beard absentmindedly as he gazed at the waning afternoon light through the shop's front windows.

The princess sprung her plan into action.

"How about a drink afterward, then?" She asked innocently, as if it were the most normal thing in the world. He did not take it as such.

"Huh?" The tall dwarf balked incredulously, then shook his head as if he'd been stunned. "Well... after work is the right time for it, but since when are we drinking buddies, Frey?" She shrugged casually, internally screaming at the butterflies to quiet down.

"Since now if you're up for it." She said mildly.

Bado scratched at the back of his neck, eyeing her and glancing away again in a hurry.

"Well..."

A broad, playful smile spread across Frey's face, she shifted her weight and tilted her head, eyeing him playfully.

"C'mon, it'll be fun. We won't get sloshed or anything, so don't worry so much." He didn't look terribly reassured.

"As little as you are, though, it wouldn't take much to overdo it..." He pointed out.

"I'll be careful." She assured him, dragging a fingertip in an 'x' across her upper chest. "Cross my heart."

He looked at her and away again, silently tugging his beard again, this time in a nervous gesture. plainly he was fighting himself on whether to accept or not. She decided a little begging wasn't beneath her.

"Pleaaase." She whined, leaning over the counter at him a little with a hopeful look. He looked at her, smirked, then gave a huge sigh as if he were acquiescing to an inconvenient favor of some kind. The smirk betrayed his real feelings on the matter.

"Fine. Can only hold out against them puppy-dog eyes for so long, after all..." He grumbled.

"Great!" Frey chirped, "I'll go to the grocery and by it while you close up shop."

"Hang on, are you old enough to buy it?" He asked suddenly, pointing at her.

Frey blinked at him in surprise.

"Of course I am." She said, honestly surprised. "How young do you think I am?"

'I-" he began, stopped, and folded his arms. "Well, I know better than to guess a woman's age to her face." He said somewhat defensively.

Frey shook her head, smiling and rolling her eyes.

"Whatever you say. I'll be right back. Don't go anywhere, okay?"

"I'll be here." He replied mildly, opening the register to count the til."

Frey darted down Selphia's streets to the town grocer's, giddy with excitement. The plan had worked! Now they had a setting in which to spend time alone together and talk without feeling like the conversation should be brief for politeness' sake. All she needed now was alcohol.

The door to the store chimed cheerfully and she hurried to the shelves lined with bottles in the corner. From behind the counter, his head resting on his elbows, Selphia's only other resident dwarf eyed her with silvery gray eyes.

"Hey, Frey. What's got you in such a hurry?" Doug asked in a lazy, languid voice. He'd obviously been wiling away a boring shift alone in the shop, by the look of him.

"Just running a quick errand." She replied without turning around. She eyed the bottles, shook her head slightly. What the hell did she know about wine, anyway? She grabbed one at random. All liquor tasted foul to her in any case. Up at the counter Doug raised his head, looking from the bottle she set on the counter up to her face with a suspicious expression.

"Since when do you buy wine?" He said in wary tones, "And in a hurry, too. You got a hot date or something?" He smirked. His eyes were a little more hard than gleeful, however.

Frey felt her face heat up instantly. Damnit. Why did these reactions have to be so reflexive? She steeled her resolve not to acknowledge her embarrassment, lest it redouble, and replied with a cool tone:

"That's not really your business, but no. Not a date." She took out a little more gold than was required and set it on the counter, snatching up the bottle by the neck and turning to leave.

"Oh." Doug said, blinking. He seemed to relax instantly. "Well in that case, can I come?" Frey froze in mid step, turning back to look at him apologetically.

"Sorry, Doug," She said, genuine remorse in her voice, "It isn't a date, but it also isn't something I want an extra person attending, either..." He'd just have to forgive her for being cryptic, she thought. She wasn't about to admit to the red headed boy that she was trying to wile her way into the heart of an older man, even though it was absolutely the truth.

"Oh..." Doug replied awkwardly. "Uh... It's not... It's not Dylas, is it?" He asked haltingly, pulling a slightly disgusted face. Frey felt a smirk tug sharply on one corner of her mouth. She eyed him with mischief in her gaze.

"No. It's not Dylas." She assured primly.

"Whew. That's a relief." He sighed, then straightened up sharply and added: "C-cause you really ought to be able to do better than him. That's why." He said stubbornly, blushing. Frey let her smirk become a wicked grin.

"Of course." She agreed with a gracious nod. "He's all yours." Then she was out the door before Doug could finish shouting his all-too-ready protests at her back.

It didn't take long to get back to the Meanderer. She held the wine bottle up triumphantly as she came through the door, flipping the 'open' sign to 'closed.' surreptitiously behind her back as she let the door shut. She wasn't sure, after all, that the lazy blacksmith would bother with the sign. After going to all the trouble to fetch the wine, she did not want to be interrupted or imposed on.

"Letsee what ya got." Bado said amiably, accepting the bottle with one big hand and reading the label. "Not bad. Not all that good either. But I ain't real picky when it comes to alcohol." He shrugged. She followed him back to the table in his work room that doubled as a rough excuse for a dining table sometimes. He set two mismatched stoneware cups out on the table and gestured for her to sit. She did. His blue gray eyes fixed her with a warning glance as he popped the cork with a practiced motion.

"Now I agreed to have a drink with you, Frey, but you're starting slow, got it?"

She rolled her eyes.

"Sheesh! What do you suspect me of? I just thought it'd be nice to have a drink and a little conversation with you, but I'm here more for the company than the booze."

Bado blinked at her.

"Oh." He said awkwardly, "Well in that case..." He poured her a half a mug and filled his own. She accepted the cup with a little dip of her head as he slid it across the table for her, then he held up his own and they clinked the cups together. "Cheers, Frey."

She sipped at the wine. Disgusting, as usual. But, she controlled her expression as she swallowed and set the cup down. The big man across from her took a big swig that drained half the cup and set it down with a satisfied sigh. He looked up at her with a relaxed attitude and gestured as if to tell her to proceed.

"So, wha'd you wanna talk about so badly, eh?"

She fidgeted silently for a moment. There were any number of things she wanted to ask him about, to learn about him, but just now it was suddenly extremely hard to make her voice work.

"Nothing in particular." She mumbled, averting her eyes, and tracing her fingers along the lines of the wooden table's grain in front of her. "I just wanted to spend some time with you is all."

He chuckled.

"Now why would you want to go and do that? Ain't a princess got anything better to do than pal around with a lazy dog like me?"

Frey rolled her eyes and sighed in exaggerated exasperation.

"I'm not going to argue about this. Just take it for the compliment that it is." She said, bending an eyebrow at him. He chuckled softly again, but the smile on his lips widened even as he raised his cup to take another drink of wine.

"Well alright then." He allowed.

She watched him set his cup back down and brush a stray shaving of wood from the table. Then he looked up at her eyes expectantly and she struggled to hold that gaze for more than a moment. After a couple heartbeats she did look away again. This whole thing was harder than expected. Why hadn't her plan included specific strategies for the actual conversation part of the evening?

"Actually," She said, on a sudden inspiration as her eyes fell on those ridiculous love charms she'd noticed the last time she'd visited. "There is something I'd like to know."

"Sure." He said, shrugging and pouring himself a second cup. He was a big man, after all. The wine probably wasn't equal to the task of getting him drunk if he were sharing it. "Ask away." He raised the cup to his lips again.

"Have you ever been in love, Bado?" She asked in a deliberately steady voice, her heart hammering as she heard her voice actually project the words. Bado startled in the middle of taking another sip, aspirated wine, and choked. He squeezed his eyes shut, set the cup down with one hand and covered a fit of coughing with the other.

"What in-" He wheezed, "Whaddaya wanna know somethin' like that for?" His tattered voice choked out. He was staring at her as if suddenly realizing she were more dangerous than she looked. Frey attempted to smooth over the way she'd taken him off guard.

"Just courious." She shrugged, "I know next to nothing about you aside from what you do here in Selphia now. I guess I just want to know where you're coming from."

Bado frowned at her, hesitating. He didn't seem altogether sold on her explanation. But, after another few seconds of silence he made a cursory attempt to satisfy her request.

"Uh... well, yeah. Long time ago." he said brusquely, fidgeting with the cup in his huge hands. Frey sat staring attentively at him, waiting silently for more. He glanced up at her when she made no verbal reply, sighed loudly, and leaned back in his chair, resigned not to get into a silent contest of who was more stubborn.

"It was way before I came to Selphia. When I was in the Knighthood. I was nineteen at the time, I think."

Frey blinked in surprise, only now realizing she hadn't actually expected him to share the information, even though she'd asked.

"Wow, really?" She said, perking up with interest and leaning forward. "Was she a dwarf like you?"

Bado blinked at her and leaned back slightly. He looked like he had suddenly found himself in a situation he hadn't at all bargained for. But something about his attitude also seemed intrigued at her interest. He glanced away and scratched at the back of his neck, a nervous gesture.

"Well, no, actually. She was an elf. Quite a bit older than me, too... not that that means the same thing when you live as long as elves, mind." He added thoughtfully. The story seemed to have its own momentum as he dug up the memories, glancing upward with a slight expression of effort on his face. Then he grew uncomfortable, fidgeting and avoiding her eyes again. "I was pretty darn smitten. And, I had reason to believe she liked me too." He said, almost mumbling in his hesitation. His ears turned red as he said the last bit.

Frey tilted her head curiously.

"What happened?"

"Uh..." He hesitated, leaning back and tugging at his beard, "I was seein' things that weren't really there, turns out. When I confessed my feelings she told me off and wouldn't see me anymore." His face fell into the unmistakable expression of old pain, familiar as home but still not without its bite. His tone was almost for himself alone as he continued: "She didn't want nothin' to do with a romance with me. Guess I shoulda understood that. She'd as much as told me already by then, after all."

Frey stared at him, fretting. She hadn't meant to dredge up old hurts. What was she supposed to say now?

Her silence brought him back to the moment, he glanced up at her and smiled apologetically.

"But, love can make ya stupid, ya know?" He said, shrugging one shoulder. Frey felt her lips part slighly, but she still didn't have words. Bado leaned back in his chair, took another swig from his cup, and continued in a more casual tone, the momentum of his memories carrying him through the conversation.

"Anyway, after that I had a lot of flings and such, but nothin' ever serious. I never really fell in love after that first time." He said, gazing away thoughtfully into the distance. Then his ears turned scarlet and a slight blush came into his face. He ducked his head and fidgeted, glancing a her and away again.

"Well, that is..." He said haltingly, "Not exactly never... but that's as much as I'm gonna say on the matter." He nodded with an attitude of finality.

"Oh!" Frey chirped in surprise. Now that was an intriguing reaction. What did it mean, though? What other story would he be unwilling to tell after he'd already revealed how he'd been rejected by the first woman he'd fallen for?

"Enough about me, though." He said suddenly, brushing at the air as if shooing away a fly. "But, since we're on the subject, how are things going with your little love affair? Did that charm do the trick?"

"O-oh. Well, I don't really know yet..." She stammered. He quirked an eyebrow at her.

"Haven't told him yet, huh? What on earth could you be hesitating for, princess?"

Frey squirmed under his gaze.

"Well..." She began, rubbing at one arm with the other hand. Wasn't she already as obvious as a girl could be? How could he be asking her about this? How could she still not be able to tell him?

"He's clueless." She sighed loudly, glancing up at his eyes briefly, then blushing profusely. Bado raised his eyebrows again, a silent request for elaboration.

"That is," She explained little by little, "He's pretty oblivious to my feelings, I think. And I'm not totally sure he feels the same way about me..."

"Ah." Bado said softly, looking down at the cup in his hands and smiling fainly. "Well, I know a little of how that feels, actually." Then he looked up and met her eyes again. She didn't look away this time. "But I can hardly imagine what kind of guy wouldn't be at least a little taken with you Frey. You've got nothing to worry about. You should just come straight out and tell him."

"O-oh..." Frey heard herself squeak. Her face had to be resembling a tomato by now. How on earth could he not be seeing through this? He really was dense, she thought. "You really think so?" She asked nervously.

He grinned at her.

"Yeah. Go for it."

"Okay, then..." She said, swallowing. "I guess I will."

"Do it soon though." He warned, pointing at her, "You know what they say: 'Time waits for no man'. -or, uh... girl in this case." he added, smirking again.

"If you're sure I should, then..." She trailed off, her mouth suddenly dry. Should she just come out and say it right now? It certainly seemed an appropriate moment for it, given what he'd just said to her.

"I'm positive." He assured, waving off her hesitation. "Just go for it. You've got the love charm, remember? I'm sure it'll turn out well. And, when it does, I can use you as a success story. I'll sell a million of the things! Ha!"

Frey hung her head abruptly, a reluctant smile on her lips.

"Leave it to you to say a thing like that..." She grumbled. He'd torpedoed the moment pretty effectively, alright. She'd have to build up her courage again when she wasn't reeling from one of his abrupt sidetracks to chase hypothetical riches via shop schemery. She sighed, feeling her brows fret again as she stared down at the table again. At this rate...

"Hey." Bado's deep voice, suddenly quiet and free of teasing. She looked up and he caught her eye, one hand resting halfway across the table as if he'd been determined to get her attention one way or another, even if he had to wave a hand in her face. He drew a deep breath, looking concerned. "Don't Fret, Frey. I hate to see you worry like that, so... chin up, okay?" He smiled encouragingly. "There's plenty of people in this town who love you just the way you are, so don't worry."

Frey felt her face stretch into a stunned expression. He seemed to take it as a good sign.

"Even if this one doesn't work out for you, you'll be okay, okay?"

"...Okay." She nodded slowly. "Thank you, Bado."

His ears flushed again.

"Anytime."

They stared at each other a few beats longer. Frey made one or two abortive attempts to draw words up out of her butterfly-infested stomach, but her nerve was failing fast. She decided to regroup and revisit the attempt later.

"Well, I-I'd better get going." She said a little breathlessly, "Keep the rest of the bottle, okay?"

The big man looked puzzled at her.

"You don't want to take it home or anything?"

She smiled at him.

"Nah. I really hate the taste of wine."

His face turned surprised, then incredulous.

"Then why-"

"I told you already," She interrupted, "the drinking wasn't what I was here for."

He just stared at her, pointed ears bright red. One of them twitched. Her smile widened momentarily.

"Goodnight, Bado." She said softly, and turned to leave, feeling his dubstruck stare on her back as she went.


	5. Unintended Consequences

"Rrrrrgh...." Frey growled, head buried between her knees, fingers clutched around it, tangled in her hair. She sat upon her big double bed at the castle, agonizing over a choice she felt magnetically pulled toward.

'Just come right out and tell him', Bado had said.

"Tch. Easy for him to say" the princess grumbled into her knees. He, apparently so oblivious to her feelings, probably couldn't have known that he was essentially inviting her to confess her feelings to him then and there. She hadn't, of course, but now she thought she should have. Every waking moment since that conversation had been a torment of nervousness, regret, apprehension, excitement; the tangle of emotions in her writhed about so wildly she thought she might fly apart at the seams. She huffed an exasperated laugh. All of this was simply the unintended consequences of his advice to her... all this and the apparently inevitable confession she felt driven to make.

Compulsion toward coming clean with him aside, her butterfly-filled stomach and jittery nerves apparently didn't give a damn that some parts of her were so certain of her course.

'What if I've completely misread him?" a cruelly paranoid voice whispered in her thoughts. "What if he's just a sensitive guy who didn't want to see a friend of him and his foster kids sail away from this town never to return? What if Gaius was wrong, too?" She shook her head and whined quietly to herself.

No. She couldn't waver now. She was already in for a penny, in for a hoard of treasure, it seemed. How could she walk away now without knowing? Plus, these feelings showed no sign of diminishing. If anything, she was becoming more fixated on the big man by the day. How long could she take it before she really became crazy, anyway.

"Well, you're already pretty much talking to yourself..." She mumbled, rolling her eyes.

Always different parts of her argued with one another in the background. Her most confident self threw her hand up in the air, exasperated: 'why am I even hesitating? Who's gonna say no to me? I'm amazing.' A nervous part of her that loved only certainty, always seemed to have a counter-argument. 'Yeah, but he's already plainly said he's too old for you. Doesn't that mean he doesn't even see you as a potential partner?'

Frey's fingers dug more frantically in her hair in frustration. These thoughts had turned circles in her for four whole days now. Twice she'd even started walking to the Meanderer only to turn on her heel and stalk back away, fuming at herself but retreating nevertheless. Doubts lingered, thoughts warred, and she became more and more frazzled and impatient with herself.

Finally, a new voice, that of the part of her that was ready to throw her hands up and end this foolishness chimed in with an argument that flouted the others with a single cold rationale:

'At least once I just tell him, I'll freaking know. I won't have to sit here and wonder anymore. I'm done. This is nonsense. I have to get back to my life sometime!'

She raised her head and let out a great sigh, half relief, half resignation. For better or for worse, this new train of thought was correct. The suffering of wondering and worrying would be over as soon as she told him. If she were rejected, she could always just go back to plan A of going on a journey elsewhere in the hope of meeting someone, she thought, eyebrows quirking upward as she considered it. All in all, ending up where she started was pretty decent, as worst case scenarios went.

But, some part of her still realized she'd be no small degree of crushed by a rejection from him... Sure, Bado hadn't been the center of her attention prior to these recent months since she'd decided to leave Selphia for a time, but now that she had nurtured a very keen interest in him it seemed rather staggeringly important to hold his esteem.

She pictured his long face, haggard by worry and disappointment as she'd confirmed that she was about to board that airship and sail away. That image had never left her mind. Surely it had to mean something. She was friends with everyone in Selphia, after all. No one else had come running to quietly plead with her to stay while she had one foot on the ship, knowing the request would not be granted, but making it ayway... Surely only harboring some signicant romantic interest in her could have motivated such actions, right?

It all sounded rational, but that part of her that was never satisfied without absolute certainty protested quietly in the back of her mind.

"Enough." she said aloud, voice flat. She hopped to her feet from the bed, sighed again short and loudly, and marched out the bedroom door.

The familiar by now nervous fluttering of her heart and racing thoughts did not slow her steps or turn her around this time. Frey marched herself all the way across town to the smithy with a steady gait, even though her eyes were a little wide and frightened as she tugged on the big iron handle of the door.

She stepped into the shop and looked for the familiar outline of her crush with his broad shoulders and pointed ears. A quick glance around found him in his usual place, back by the shop's counter. He was on his feet arranging little this-and-thats on a display shelf. Aside from the big dwarf himself, the shop was empty.

"Ah, Frey! Good to see ya." Came his warm greeting.

"You, too." She replied, just a little breathlessly.

"So, what brings ya in, today, eh?" He smiled at her, "Come to buy a love potion to use on that crush of yours?"

Frey flushed deeply, heat rising in her face. She glanced away, shuffling her feet a little.

"Ah, no.... I'm hoping nothing that drastic will be necessary." She said with a nervous little chuckle. Then she glaced back up at his bue-gray eyes, their irises just a little reflective, as Dwarves' eyes tended to be. "But on that subject... I, um... I'm actually here for related reasons." She managed to say. He quirked an eyebrow at her and looked intrigued, folding his arms and looking at her expectantly.

"Oh?" He intoned curiously.

"Y-yeah. I was thinking about what you said the other day. Your advice..." She all but mumbled in a hurry. "And, well... I need to talk to you."

Bado snorted quietly in amusement.

"Well, I'm always happy to help ya, Frey, but you could do a lot better than me for love advice." He shrugged, looking slightly abashed. "I've been flying solo for about a decade, ya know." He smiled sympathetically at her. "You're probably better off talking to Nancy about it, actually."

Frey shook her head.

"No, no. For this it has to be you." She hurried to say, blushing hotly again as she heard herself say it.

Bado's dark eyebrows shot up at that. He frowned slightly, expression bewildered and wary.

"Uh, okay then, Frey. Just don't say I didn't warn you." He said slowly. She stared at him, hesitating for a beat."Go ahead, then. I'm all ears." he added.

Frey fidgeted, wringing a bit of her skirts in her hands.

"W-well I..." She began faintly.

This was it. Her heart hammered. Her confident self cheered. Her fearful self cringed, and above all the desire to end her suspense and plunge into whatever came next carried the words from her lips. All the time she'd spent on him in her thoughts of late coalesced into three words, delivered with abrupt certainty and force in her voice.

"I love you!"

One of those absolutely deafening silences followed immediately. Frey stood frozen, staring at Bado's face as his eyes widened, his eyebrows almost disappearing into his untidy hair. His mouth opened slowly, silently, in shock. His expression flickered, almost like a wince, then it changed, a sly smile on his lips and a wily quirk of eyebrows that made the bottom drop out of Frey's stomach even before he spoke:

"Well now, ain't that an interesting lie to be telling." He mused, his voice a little too deliberate to be casual. "You tryin' to get back at me for teasing you about the love charm?" Frey reeled back as if he'd slapped her.

"What? No, I-" She stammered, flabbergasted.

"I've been around the block more than once, missy," He drawled, "It's a bit too far-fetched. Try something a little more subtle next time you want to try and prank me, 'kay?" He folded his arms again and tilted his head at her, smirking condescendingly. his whole body carried a kind of tension though.

Suddenly her temper flashed up out of her. Her fists clenched at her sides. Her eyes hardened, and her voice came out as a bark of accusation.

"Y-you blockhead!"

Bado flinched in surprise at the intensity of her reaction. She continued, her voice at a carrying volume.

"I'm not playing around here, Bado! This isn't a joke, it's a confession!" She relaxed slightly, her expression turning from anger to bewilderment and insistence. "I love you!" She said again, almost urgently.

Bado's shocked expression made a comeback. He made no sound at all. He almost looked frozen. She stared at him, just waiting, just breathing. One, two, five heartbeats passed. Her face began to fall. He made no move and still said nothing. The silence stretched on and on. Her eyebrows tented above her eyes as they began to burn. Disappointment closed in on her. She looked down and fidgeted with her skirt again. When she spoke her voice was barely above a whisper:

"I just... had to tell you. That's all then, I guess..." She said resignedly.

"Frey, y-you..." She heard him fumble, his deep voice faint and weak for once. Then it burst out of him in loud protest: "You can't pick me!" he barked.

Now it was her turn to look shocked.

"W-why on earth not?" She stammered incredulously. His expression switched to something like outrage.

"Whaddaya mean, why not?!" He countered, gesturing in exasperation, "I'm too old for you, Frey! What are you thinkin'?" Perhaps the words were meant to sound like he was scolding her, but Frey registered too much pain in his voice for that to be true. He looked away, his expression a cringe. She blinked at him in stunned silence for a moment or two.

"That's not up to you to decide." She said softly after a time, suddenly feeling sure she understood what was going on, finally.

Bado looked up at her, confused. Frey took a deep, trembling breath, and continued:

"You can say I'm too young for you, if you really don't want me."

He winced.

"Th-that's not--"

"But only I can decide whether you're a good fit for me. Only I get to decide whether I want you." She smiled hopefully up at him, humble and sincere. "And, I've already decided that I do."

Bado stared into her eyes, searching. He looked lost, but hopeful. It took a whole minute or more for him to find his voice again.

”Well, I’d be lyin’ if I said I don’t have the same sorta feelings for you, too…” He said, pausing to draw in a deep breath. Frey held hers. "But if you’re a-asking me out…" He continued, voice carefully controlled.

"I am." Frey interjected, staring resolutely up into his blue-gray eyes. Her heart hammered in her chest, faster and faster.

"Then, I… I need some time to think this over." He said, voice shaking ever so slightly. A blush came into his cheeks and he looked away, adding, "This ain’t exactly a simple decision for me…"

Frey's spirits dropped, but she mastered her expression in time to mitigate the disappointment on her face. It wasn't a 'no' after all, but if she were honest, she hated waiting and was really hoping for a 'yes' immediately. She took a steadying breath.

"Th-that's understandable." She squeaked.

Bado winced, looking back into her eyes.

”I don’t want to leave you hanging, Frey, but could you give me until morning to give you my answer?" he said hopefully.

"Oh!" She piped. Having schooled her expectations for an indefinite period of suspense, morning didn't sound so bad. She smiled. "Yeah, I can wait."

The big man before her let out his breath with a relieved sigh and smiled faintly at her.

"Thanks. I'm grateful." He shoved his big hands in his pockets, body language suddenly a little more awkward. "So, will you, uh... will you meet me in front of the castle at ten o'clock tomorrow morning, then?"

"Of course. I'll be there." She replied without hesitation.

He smiled slightly again.

"Alright. I'll see you then, Frey."

The princess of Selphia nodded hastily and turned to go, legs shaky as she fled the scene.

Tomorrow morning. Less than a day to wait. There was still hope.

Minutes later her elation at having such a short period to wait had evaporated as she paced in her room, doubts gnawing at her with every heartbeat.

"It wasn't a 'no'..." She mumbled to herself, "He didn't turn me down. Not yet, at least..." She stopped in the middle of her chambers and sighed.

Well did the princess of Selphia know her own wiles when it came to waiting. She was no saint of patience, that was for sure. The only way to pass time when her mind was bent on obsessing over something was to drown out its buzzing with plenty of manual labor. The complaints of her muscles and the steady, simple tasks of farm work would give her something to focus on and hopefully tire her out enough to sleep tonight. She did not relish the thought of lying awake all night while her traitorous brain spun every possible scenario and outcome in her minds eye before she could meet with her crush in the morning to get his actual answer.

Frey sighed once more and trotted out the back door to her fields. Fortunately, there was never any shortage of work to be done.

 


End file.
